In the scenery where metal-mechanic organizations work, the constant use of material that generate waste is observed and this represents a continuous challenge to the companies, through the compatibility to the operational activity exercise with the preservation of the natural resources. Considering such perspective, the management of wastes is a systemic strategy in the context of operational activities maintenance. This study aims at analyzing the procedures of management waste in companies that belongs to the Local Productive Arrangement Metal Centro, whose work field is in the central region of Rio Grande do Sul. The methodological strategy adopted is characterized, the method, as an applied case study of exploratory mode and analysis of data in a qualitative approach. In order that the study could be accomplished, procedures and techniques of data collection were used. For doing so, documental research and interviews were used and they enabled the achievement of necessary information to the leading of the proposal investigation. Thus, the waste generated in the productive process of the companies, were identified and classified to enable the proposition of actions and strategies with the purpose to minimize the waste generation and the improvement of sustainable alternatives. In the procedures of study focused on the context of activities developed by the companies of metal mechanic section, it was identified the possibility of implementation of improvement strategies in the use of materials in the productive process. Such strategies can be individually developed through the procedures, techniques and utilization of equipment that provide the reduction of the waste generation. Besides, such strategies can also be collectively developed by the companies and, as consequence, become opportunities of development of joint actions. For example, the joint actions could be the implementation of a unit of managing waste, the development of an integrated database of waste as well as the elaboration of projects to use the available resources by FUNDOAPL to sustainable actions to be implanted by companies. These actions, thought to minimize the generation of waste in the productive process, can provide sustainable strategies and as well as enable a financial return throughout the activities developed by the companies that are member of Local Productive Arrangement Metal Centro. / No cenário de atuação das organizações do setor metal-mecânico, verifica-se a utilização constante de materiais geradores de resíduos, o que representa um desafio contínuo para as empresas, através da compatibilização do exercício da atividade operacional com a preservação dos recursos naturais. Diante dessa perspectiva, o gerenciamento de resíduos constitui-se em estratégia sistêmica no contexto da manutenção das atividades operacionais. No presente estudo, buscou-se analisar os procedimentos de gerenciamento de resíduos em empresas integrantes do Arranjo Produtivo Local Metal Centro, com atuação na região central do Rio Grande do Sul. A estratégia metodológica adotada caracteriza-se, quanto ao método, como um estudo de caso aplicado de modalidade exploratória e análise de dados sob abordagem qualitativa. Para a efetivação do estudo, utilizaram-se procedimentos e técnicas de coletas de dados, através de pesquisa documental e entrevista, que possibilitaram a obtenção de informações necessárias para a condução da investigação proposta. Assim sendo, buscouse identificar e classificar os resíduos gerados no processo produtivo das empresas, oportunizando, desse modo, a proposição de ações e estratégias voltadas à minimização da geração de resíduos e alternativas sustentáveis. Nos procedimentos de estudo direcionados ao contexto das atividades exercidas pelas empresas do setor metal-mecânico, identificou-se a possibilidade de implementação de estratégias otimizadoras da utilização de materiais no processo produtivo. Estratégias essas que podem ser desenvolvidas de forma individual, através de procedimentos, técnicas e utilização de equipamentos que proporcionam a redução da geração de resíduos, ou de forma coletiva pelas empresas, constituindo-se em oportunidades de desenvolvimento de ações conjuntas, como a implementação de uma central de gerenciamento de resíduos, o desenvolvimento de um banco integrado de resíduos, assim como a elaboração de projetos para a utilização de recursos disponíveis pelo FUNDOAPL para ações sustentáveis a serem implementadas pelas empresas. Essas ações, voltadas à minimização da geração de resíduos no processo produtivo, podem proporcionar estratégias sustentáveis e, em contrapartida, oportunizar um retorno financeiro, no decorrer das atividades desenvolvidas pelas empresas integrantes do Arranjo Produtivo Local Metal Centro.

Manufacturing industries have adopted globalization as a strategy to improve the reach of their products/services, bringing them closer to the customer and utilizing the cost advantage in emerging economies, better availability of resources such as raw materials, and cheaper workforce. However, with globalization came a fair share of obstacles in effectively managing the operations of a complex supply chain network spread across the globe. Failure of manufacturing firms in controlling their operations has led to a generation of wastes such as underutilization of resources, inefficient by-product disposal systems, and increased emissions from poorly managed logistics networks. Research on understanding the environmental impact of ineffectively managed supply chain networks shows that industrial operations contribute up to 20% of global carbon dioxide emissions creating a serious impact on the environment.  Realizing these adverse effects, many countries across the globe have taken steps to regulate and monitor the operations and by-products produced by manufacturing firms. Multiple countries and local governments have come together to become environmentally more responsible through encouraging sustainability initiatives. They have laid more stringent regulations to pressure the manufacturing firms to transform into more sustainable and reduce their carbon footprint. Moreover, the manufacturing firms are also experiencing pressure from local governments and private NGOs. With increasing awareness of sustainability, customers have also slowly started transforming towards sustainable products and boycotting products from firms that do not comply with sustainability standards. Consequently, manufacturing firms have realized the need to become more sustainable in order to adapt to the changing regulations and customer needs. To achieve the level of sustainability in their supply chain operations, manufacturing firms have adopted innovative strategies and made changes in their policies making sustainability one of their prime goals. To achieve the desired level of sustainability, firms need to transform their current ways by incorporating a sustainability perspective into their operations. However, integrating sustainability at the operations level is not as easy as said due to existing governance gaps which are a result of ineffective control and management in global supply chain networks.  This thesis aims at identifying, understanding, and analyzing the gaps in integrating sustainability into supply chains and providing suggestions on how to fulfill these gaps. Through this research three innovative sustainability strategies which can be applied at operational, organizational, and system levels are analyzed, and conclusions are drawn on how successful implementation of these strategies would help in fulfilling the governance gaps. Further, the research also analyses the plausible effects of implementing the strategies by understanding and comparing the firm performance before and after implementation. The firm performance is measured in three categories: environmental performance, operational performance, and financial performance.

Hållbart företagande handlar idag om att använda resurserna på ett smartare sätt och genom det uppnå ekonomiska fördelar, resurserna i detta fallet är miljö- och socialansvar. Företag kan idag välja att frivilligt anta hållbarhetsfrågan men som många forskare visat genom undersökningar att företag med ett aktiv hållbarhetsarbete är mer ekonomiskt lönsamma än de som inte satsar. Men hur kan då tjänsteproducerande företag som inte har möjlighet att bidra genom produkteffektivisering eller liknande som produktproducerade företag kan? Vårt syfte med denna studie är att undersöka hur den valda organisationen skapar ekonomiska fördelar genom att ta ett miljö och socialansvar. Från ett externt perspektiv på samhällsnivå till ett internt perspektiv på organisations- och individnivå har vi strävat efter att identifiera hur besluten tas i praktiken inom en affärsverksamhet. Vi har gjort en kvalitativ fallstudie och samlat in empiri från semistrukturerade intervjuer och företagsdokument. Från empirin har vi analyserat organisationens hållbarhetsarbete i form av lönsamhetsaspekter. Vårt resultat visade att hållbarhet och lönsamhet hänger närmare ihop än vad vi tidigare trodde om tjänsteproducerande företag. Vidare visade resultatet att organisationen i vår studie lyckats väl med att implementera hållbarhetstänket på alla nivåer samt att förena hållbarheten med praktiken. Dock återstår problematiken att ingen redovisning görs av den icke-finansiella informationen vilket kan bidra till att trovärdigheten förminskas. / Sustainable business is today about using the company's resources in a smarter way and through it achieve economic benefits, the resources in this case is the environmental and social response. Companies can choose to voluntarily adopt the sustainability issue, but many researchers have shown through studies that companies that work active with sustainability is more economical profitable than those that not invest in this subject. But how can the service companies, that can´t streamlining product or similar, contribute as the product companies? Our purpose with this study is to examine how the selected organization creates economic benefits by taking environmental and social responsibility. From an external perspective on the societal level to an internal perspective on the organizational and individual level. We have made a qualitative case study and collected empirical data from semi-structured interviews and business documents. We have analysed the organization's sustainability performance that have been collected from the empirical data in terms of profitability aspects. Our results showed that sustainability and profitability are closer connected than we previously thought about the service companies. The results also showed that the organization in our study succeeded in implement sustainability thinking in all levels and to combine sustainability with practice. The problem that no accounting is made on the non-financial information is still remaining. This information can contribute to a diminished credibility.

Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior / Environmental changes have created new requirements and conditions for industrial activity in Brazil, highlighting the need for exploration of the aspects related to sustainable development and expansion into new markets. This study aimed to understand how the adoption of sustainable management strategies influence the export performance of Brazilian internationalized industrial sector of Gems and Jewelry. The sustainable strategies were evaluated from the adaptation of the strategic model of the Batelle American Institute, presented by Placet, Anderson and Fowler (2005), which addresses the interaction of economic, social and environmental aspects, considering innovation as perspective, reflected in the company and in society. The export performance was analyzed through the adaptation of the model of Papadopoulos and Martin (2010) that develops and evaluates a formative measure of export performance, identifying and quantifying the relative contribution of its consequences concerning the economic and strategic dimensions. The research is characterized as qualitative and exploratory, and was carried out through semi-structured interviews in the industrial internationalized sector of gems and jewelry as well as quantitative and descriptive, given that subjects responded to a survey. Data was analyzed by univariate and bivariate correlation test and Spearman's Rho. Such tests allow to understand which sustainable management practices of the model are being added in the industrial sector, and which dimensions of sustainable development affect the export performance of companies in the gems and jewelry sector, establishing the correlations of greater significance. The results may contribute to a better understanding of such sector, pointing out which each year has contributed to the positive balance of trade. The actions in the international market of surveyed companies are in the early stages of internationalization. The changes offered by the internationalization of the industrial companies of the sector are felt and influence the strategic management and growth of companies. / As mudanças ambientais criaram novas exigências e condicionantes para a atividade industrial brasileira, ressaltando a necessidade da exploração dos aspectos relacionados ao desenvolvimento sustentável e a ampliação para novos mercados. Este trabalho teve como objetivo entender como a adoção de estratégias de gestão sustentáveis influencia no desempenho exportador de empresas industriais brasileiras internacionalizadas do setor de Gemas e Joias. As estratégias sustentáveis foram avaliadas a partir da adaptação do modelo estratégico do Instituto Americano Battelle, apresentado por Placet, Anderson e Fowler (2005), que aborda a interação dos aspectos econômicos, social e ambiental tendo como perspectiva a inovação, com reflexos na empresa e na sociedade. O desempenho exportador foi analisado a partir da adaptação do modelo de Papadopoulos e Martín (2010) que desenvolve e testa uma medida formativa do desempenho exportador e identifica e quantifica a contribuição relativa das suas consequências nas dimensões econômica e estratégica. A pesquisa caracteriza-se por ser uma investigação de natureza qualitativa e exploratória realizada com entrevistas semi estruturadas em empresas industriais internacionalizadas do Setor Mineral de Gemas e Joias e; quantitativa e descritiva, através da aplicação de uma survey. Os dados foram avaliados por meio da análise univariada e bivariada e teste de correlação de Ró de Spearman. Foi possível perceber quais práticas de gestão sustentável apresentadas no modelo estão sendo inseridas nas empresas industriais do setor, e quais as dimensões do desenvolvimento sustentável influenciam o desempenho exportador das empresas do setor de gemas e joias, estabelecendo as correlações de maior significância. Através dos resultados pode-se ter um melhor entendimento desse setor , que a cada ano vêm contribuindo para o saldo positivo da balança comercial. A atuação no mercado externo da maioria das empresas pesquisadas se encontra nos dois primeiros estágios de internacionalização. As mudanças proporcionadas pela internacionalização das empresas industriais do setor, se fazem sentir e influenciam na gestão estratégica e no crescimento das empresas do setor.